Page 8 of Falling for the Forbidden Fighter (She’s Worth the Trouble #3)

CATHERINE

The sun is just breaking over the desert’s horizon. It yawns magnificent pink hues into the scattered clouds, not high enough yet to reclaim the cool night air.

I’ve always loved sunrises here.

Something about the expansiveness of the desert makes mornings unmatched. Where else can you see the sun coming from so far away?

Dry earth crunches beneath me. The trail cuts through the brush, sputtering up a little canyon only a few miles from my apartment. I used to hike alone here a few times a week. Now, Louis joins me.

We’re being risky. I know it, but I don’t care. Every aspect of my life has shifted to include him these last few weeks. I never knew that I was longing to come home to someone who I can share my day, share a meal, and share a bed.

We stay up too late most nights. Louis fights off sleep to touch me, make love to me, talk with me… and I wake up with my head on his chest or his arms wrapped around me.

I want to share everything with him.

He runs ahead, teasing me as I crest the hill.

“Take it easy,” I call after him. “You’ve got training later!”

“Just getting warmed up!”

Louis has crossed a threshold.

For the first few weeks, he seemed always on the verge of tipping over. But it never quite happened. He fought and pushed and sweat and bled, and he came out the other side standing taller than before.

Nothing stops him now.

My dad says jump, and he flies higher than expected. He trains later. He hits harder and faster than we expected by this time. That wonderful body is a machine, perfectly oiled. And if I was attracted to him when we first met, it’s safe to say that I’m properly obsessed now.

He walks around naked in my apartment, a picture of perfect lethality. Every inch of him is geared toward explosive speed and power. Even when he’s relaxing, his muscles are stacked and ready.

It’s a testimony to my father’s training, to Louis’s drive and commitment.

Yet, I still don’t want to see him in the ring…

“I win again,” he says, flexing at the edge of the small cliff. He’s bolder with me now, showing sides of himself usually protected.

I jab him in the ribs, catching my breath.

“You’ve got a fight in three weeks. If you didn’t beat me every time, you’d be in trouble.”

Even still, I can’t help but feel that he’s in trouble.

I’ve had nightmares of Louis in the ring with Ruiz. There’s always so much blood, and Louis’s face swells until he can’t see a thing. No matter what I do, I can’t make it stop.

No matter how many hits he takes, Louis never stops fighting until I wake up and find him sleeping soundly next to me. My instinct to protect him is primal. Hasn’t he had enough pain in his life?

“What’s wrong?” He puts his fingers on my chin, so gently that it’s hard to imagine the power hiding in him. “You’ve got that look on your face.”

I meet his dark eyes. “You don’t have to take this fight.”

He turns away, staring out over the desert. “Not this again.”

“Yeah, again . I’m sorry, but I can’t let you step in that ring without letting you know how I feel. Ruiz is—“

“You think I don’t know?” He whirls on me, smacking his palm with each word. “I’ve watched his fights. Over and over. Every hit. Every knockout. I know what he can do. You think it’ll be worse than the beatings I’ve taken on the street? The fights I had to take.”

“But you don’t have to take this one.”

Louis scoffs, averts his eyes, shakes his head like nothing could be so wrong.

I grab his face, force him to look at me, fingers raking through his trim beard. “You don’t . Louis, there’s nothing to prove. If you want to fight, wait for a better match-up. Get more training in.”

“A match with a purse worth a couple thousand,” he says. “I’m broke, Catherine. No job. No future. This is all I’ve got.”

“That’s not true!”

I practically scream it, voice soaring off the cliff.

Louis looks at me like I’ve just shaken him from sleep.

“It’s not true,” I whisper. “You have me.”

He wants to run, to shy away from my affection. It’s his instinct: he was abandoned by everyone who was supposed to take care of him. Since he was born, all he’s known is that he’s alone.

Not anymore—I have to make sure he knows.

“Hey. Hey .” I pull his face to mine. “You have me , Louis—I promise. If you drop this fight, I’m not going anywhere. Stay in my apartment. You can be my personal chef.”

He laughs softly, a tear rolling into his beard.

“I can win,” he whispers.

“Louis…”

“No. Listen to me, please.” His fingers grace my cheeks, barely touching me. “I’ve watched his fights. I can do this.”

“How do you know? He’s undefeated.”

“Because he fights like he wants it,” Louis says, voice solid with conviction.

“I need it. A hundred and fifty thousand dollars . Even the twenty grand is more money than I’ve ever dreamed of having.

When Ruiz steps in that ring, he’ll be trapped with someone who has no other options.

This is my fight. For once in my life, it’s a fight worth taking.

And I need you in my corner, baby. Not just to patch me up… I need you there.”

There’s nothing else to say to a man so set on something.

I’m torn between fear and admiration. How could I not admire such conviction? A part of me even believes he can win… I have to believe it if I’m going to stand in his corner.

The sun starts to shine behind him, bathing us in its warmth.

“You remind me of Ricky, sometimes,” I laugh. “He’s stubborn. Whenever he got in the ring, he brawled it out, no matter what, for better or worse.”

“He’s not all bad.”

“No. He’s not.” I bury my head in Louis’s chest. “I’ll be there. You can count on me, always.”

Louis holds me close.

The breeze is still cool. Somewhere in the open desert, a coyote howls for the long-gone moon.

“It’s time to tell them,” he says softly. “I can’t fight with this secret hanging over me. Your dad… I owe him the truth.”

“I was afraid you’d say that. There’s a good chance he’ll drop you. And that’s not all he might do. Is it worth it?”

“It’s the right thing to do.”

I look up at him and smile.

“What?”

“You’re a good man. If my father doesn’t see that, I’ll make him understand.”

Louis takes my hands. “We’ll do it together. Today.”

I feel like we’re about to jump off this cliff, hand in hand. Whatever waits for us at the bottom, I feel brave knowing he’s by my side.

All my life, I knew I’d never fall for a fighter. They devote their lives to finding battles, eyes only on the prize.

But Louis isn’t those men.

He has the soul of a warrior, and I think, deep down, I always knew I’d fall for someone like him.

Someone who fights the battles that come his way, no matter how dangerous they may be.

We could keep this lie going until after the fight, maybe even longer.

But Louis doesn’t walk through life avoiding things.

He puts his head down and he charges through.

I’ve never wanted him so badly…

“Race you home,” I say, running my hand down his shorts. “Let’s get a good warm-up in before training.”

The door slams behind us.

Louis bends me over the counter. Already, I feel his firm cock pressed against me. He’s so ready in the morning, rested and roaring for another day of training. We’ve been starting the day like this for weeks.

God, I love not having roommates.

Our clothes get tossed all over the kitchen. When Louis gets like this, I feel more alive than I ever have. He’s wild and unruly, so unlike his normal self. Part of me loves it for the pleasure, the rest of me loves it because I know I’m the only person who gets to see this side of him.

Well, maybe this side of him will have a part to play in the ring.

A pan crashes to the floor as I swipe the counter.

Louis pins my legs over his shoulders, panting and smiling and licking his hand before running it over my clit. I lean back, wide-eyed, watching his thick clock slide perfectly into me. My toes curl, and I cry out without regard for my neighbors.

At least the windows are closed.

Words leave my lips before I process them, “You’re gonna win… you’re gonna win that fucking fight for me.”

Louis looks stunned in the best way possible. His hips work harder, slapping against my thighs and making me moan.

“Yeah?” I coo. “You like that?”

“Fuck yeah…”

I throw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. He backs up, carrying me in the middle of the kitchen, hiking me up in his arms with his hands firmly filled with my ass.

“Fuck me like you’re gonna win…”

He licks his lips, practically gnawing at me.

“Fuck me like you’re gonna knock him out… first fucking round…”

Harder and harder. I’ve never imagined being drilled so savagely. It’s like he owns my body, like every punch he’s ever thrown was leading him to me. If Louis trains harder than anyone I’ve ever seen, he screws me like he’s hell bent on making me see stars.

“Louis! Louis!” I hold his face in my hands, moaning onto his lips as I bounce on his perfect cock. “Right there! Don’t stop!”

“Cum for me,” he growls, holding my gaze, fingers burying themselves in my flesh. “You gonna cum? You gonna cum all over me? I fucking want it. Right now. You know I’m not stopping until I get it…”

He figured out the magic words a week ago, and he hasn’t stopped.

“OH! OH! LOUIS!”

I go rigid and limp all at the same time, quaking in his arms, feet splaying out in search of some support they never find. Instead, I hold onto him like a sailor lashed to the mast during a storm, completely drowning in the deluge of pleasure he’s given me.

It’s funny, thinking about our first time in the gym when his legs gave out. Now, I’m sure he could pound me like this for an hour and never give up, never back down an inch.

Finally, I slide down his sweaty body, kissing every inch I pass.

He slips out of me, still hard as a rock.

I glance between his legs, shivering, breath shaky.

“My turn—“

Someone knocks on the door.

We pause, both looking toward the pile of shoes in the entryway.

Three more heavy knocks, and then a raging voice, “Catty, open up! I know he’s in there! I know!”

The voice of my brother.